LDV176.8

23 ANDRÉ ISOIR The Choral no.2 in B minor, too, is a sort of rhapsody with amplifying variations. Or, to be more precise, a passacaglia divided into two large sections separated by a vehement transitional episode. At the end of this meditation in three acts represented by the set of the three Chorals , we have the Choral no.3 in A minor which is itself in three parts, a work which is probably Franck’s most famous composition. The last of the Six Pièces of 1862, the Final op.21 is the one most closely connected with the aesthetic of the ‘bazaar organ’ which flourished at the time with the ineffable Lefébure-Wély. Franck was perfectly aware of this because it was precisely ‘To his friend, Lefébure-Wély’ that he dedicated this tumultuous and rather hollow piece. A closer look, however, shows that the Final in B flat is quite differently and much more strictly constructed than Lefébure’s noisy lucubrations.